Gerald Celente has had his finger on the pulse for more than 30 years

Gerald Celente has had his finger on the pulse for more than 30 years. His reputation for picking business, consumer, political and economic trends before they happen is well known, his accuracy almost uncanny. I had the pleasure of his company for a short while in Las Vegas last November and I was transfixed. I could have listened to his words of wisdom all day. I was amazed that the man we see on television fearlessly speaking out on all the important issues of personal and public life really is a profoundly humble and gentle man. Boldly opposing abuses by the powers that control our daily lives.

In 2009 Celente predicted turmoil which he described as “Obamageddon”, and he was a popular guest on conservative cable-TV shows such as Fox News Sunday. In April 2009 Celente wrote, “Wall Street controls our financial lives; the media manipulates our minds. These systems cannot be changed from within. There is no alternative. Without a revolution, these institutions will bankrupt the country, keep fighting failed wars, start new ones, and hold us in perpetual intellectual subjugation.” He appeared on the Glenn Beck show and criticized the U.S. stimulus plan of 2009, calling government controlled capitalism “fascism” and saying shopping malls in the U.S. would become “ghost malls.” Celente has said, “smaller communities, the smaller groups, the smaller states, the more self-sustaining communities, will ‘weather the crisis in style’ as big cities and hypertrophic suburbias descend into misery and conflict,” and forecasts “a downsizing of America.”

Well that was pretty lofty stuff but all he wanted to talk about round the dinner table was family, friends and how we can all get the best out of life by being kind to one another and not judging.

I got the impression he loves people but is not too happy with the giant organisations that seek to control them.